A friend of mine and I have been chatting lately about the best Social Media Marketing books. Nikko has really impressed me. It seems like every time I mention a book he’s bought it and read it almost before I’ve even completed my thought.

I go through a lot of books. I actually keep a notecard handy so that I can jot down a title and author if I hear one mentioned on a podcast or read about one in an article.

Some of you know that I often give what I think are the best books away as part of a contest or when I speak about Social Media Marketing.

Back to my conversation with Nikko; he’s consuming these things faster than I can come up with a title and author so I figured I would compile a list of the best of what I’ve read, suggested and given away over the last year.

To be clear, this isn’t a comprehensive list of the best of the best; it’s simply what I’ve been reading and suggesting lately. These are some of the best Social Media Marketing books and I guarantee that if you read them and put their ideas into practice you’ll be a more successful.

“You’re either a Purple Cow or you’re not. You’re either remarkable or invisible. Make your choice.

What do Starbucks and JetBlue and KrispyKreme and Apple and DutchBoy and Kensington and Zespri and Hard Candy have that you don’t? How do they continue to confound critics and achieve spectacular growth, leaving behind former tried-and true brands to gasp their last?”

If you’re wondering how to make your products seem more exciting online, you’re asking the wrong question. You’re not competing for attention only against other similar products. You’re competing against your customers’ friends and family and viral videos and cute puppies. To win attention these days you must ask a different question: “How can we help?””

“We Are All Weird is a celebration of choice, of treating different people differently and of embracing the notion that everyone deserves the dignity and respect that comes from being heard. The book calls for end of mass and for the beginning of offering people more choices, more interests and giving them more authority to operate in ways that reflect their own unique values.

For generations, marketers, industrialists and politicians have tried to force us into little boxes, complying with their idea of what we should buy, use or want. And in an industrial, mass-market driven world, this was efficient and it worked. But what we learned in this new era is that mass limits our choice because it succeeds on conformity.”

“A tribe is any group of people, large or small, who are connected to one another, a leader, and an idea. For millions of years, humans have been seeking out tribes, be they religious, ethnic, economic, political, or even musical (think of the Deadheads). It’s our nature.

Now the Internet has eliminated the barriers of geography, cost, and time. All those blogs and social networking sites are helping existing tribes get bigger. But more important, they’re enabling countless new tribes to be born—groups of ten or ten thousand or ten million who care about their iPhones, or a political campaign, or a new way to fight global warming.“

“When managers and marketers outline their social media strategies, they plan for the “right hook”—their next sale or campaign that’s going to knock out the competition. Even companies committed to jabbing—patiently engaging with customers to build the relationships crucial to successful social media campaigns—want to land the punch that will take down their opponent or their customer’s resistance in one blow. Right hooks convert traffic to sales and easily show results. Except when they don’t.

Thanks to massive change and proliferation in social media platforms, the winning combination of jabs and right hooks is different now. Vaynerchuk shows that while communication is still key, context matters more than ever.”

“For years now, businesses have approached social media in an experimental fashion unconnected to real results. There’s a reason why the question about ROI is met with such hostility. But it’s time for businesses to get serious about social. In this concise e-book, noted authors and disruptive technology analysts Charlene Li and Brian Solis present seven powerful factors for designing and supporting an effective social business strategy. Li and Solis studied how the best companies create measurable value that aligns with overall business objectives and outline how to incorporate these insights into your strategy and planning process.”

“To be successful in the market today, you must possess two strategic assets: a compelling product and a meaningful platform. In this step-by-step guide, Michael Hyatt, former CEO and current Chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers, takes readers behind the scenes, into the new world of social media success. He shows you what best-selling authors, public speakers, entrepreneurs, musicians, and other creatives are doing differently to win customers in today’s crowded marketplace.“

“The former Chief Evangelist for Apple knows a superior product when he sees one, and he sees one in Google+. Hands down. In What the Plus!, Guy Kawasaki explains how to get started, create an enchanting profile, optimize for social searches, share posts and photos, conduct hangouts, and gain followers.”

“No one likes cold calls at dinnertime, junk mail overflowing your mailbox, and advertisements that interrupt your favorite shows. If this is “marketing,” then the world would probably prefer whatever is the opposite of that.

If you’re ready to stop marketing and start engaging, then welcome to UnMarketing. The landscape of business-customer relationships is changing, and UnMarketing gives you innovative ways out of the old “Push and Pray” rut. Instead, draw the right customers to you through listening and engagement, enabling you to build trust and position yourself as their logical choice when they need you.”

“Experts are constantly telling us what we need to be doing to improve our businesses. Hundreds of books in the market are filled with advice from these experts. But how can you filter out all of the bad advice, misinformation, and misuse of business tools that is out there? None of us needs another list of what we should be doing. QR Codes Kill Kittens tells you what not to do. Easy to digest, easy to avoid. The book is separated into several sections, and each will include a story related to the topic in addition to tips and explanations on what not to do.”